Philosophy
Sitemap Philosophy * See also Libertarianism * See also Rapture Society * See also Psychology * See also True_Infinites * See also Free_Press in Rapture * See Also War Measures -- WARS CHANGE THINGS FOR SOCIETY --- --- --- --- --- What is Objectivism ? ''' : It is the idea that society flourishes if each of its members focuses on their own self-interests over the interests of others, and without heavy-handed intervention of the state. Each person creates a personal situation where they feel accomplishment and happy. Society rules itself, "without Gods or Kings." - freedom from religious impositions and excessive government control. . . . . . --- --- --- '''Pseudo Objectivism : Ryan's philosophy didn't quite match Ayn Rand's Objectivism in many aspects (particularly where it dealt with where the game writers wanting to force the BioShock's story to facilitate the game being a Shooter-Fest (lots of violent conflict) and a Fail-topia ( Ruins and Wreckage and Corpses, Oh my !! ). Rand's Objectivism allows for Law Authorities to implement common laws (and have the force required to do it effectively). There would be some process for the citizens to decide/select those common laws. Local laws/ordinances might be allowed to be different (as on Private Property), and could be implemented with sufficient consensus locally. The Death Penalty generally was not a policy in Rand's Objectivism, and Ryan's 'Smuggler' threat would likely have been dealt with by 'Exile for Life' imprisonment for the perpetrators, who threatened Rapture's survival - similar to other heinous crimes. But that divergence had to be gin'd up by the writers to cause Fontaine to fake his death, and have his businesses 'seized', and have Atlas then unleash anarchy and terrorism, while at the same time complaining about Ryan not sticking to his 'philosophy'. --- --- --- ' 'An Altruist' is NOT the same as "Altruism" ' : The Altruist Ryan refers to is someone who advocates Altruism but not necessarily for the good of those others. More than a few 'Altruists' seek gains for themselves (the opposite of Altruism) by being seen to advocate Altruism, and some who MOTIVATE others to do the work/expend resources (with little cost to themselves) for the actual Altruistic actions. This is Known as "False Altruism". Is it far more likely that 'False Altruists' are really what Ryan did not like, when actual 'Altruism' is actually an individual's choice (CONSIDER - Ryan's building Rapture itself, to save Civilization, was actually an Altruistic action). --- --- --- Freedom Ain't Free : Freedom has to be combined with responsibility to survive for long. Society has to have some appointed authority to enforce and arbitrate (in many societies the fundamental one is the family). Something as complex as a City cannot be built or operate or long survive under 'anarchy' (so Rapture must've had more responsibility at work in it for its Fantasy pretending (the 'keyhole' view you see in the game) to be realistic). Having the sane people in Rapture NOT side with Ryan (or just omitting such support from the game) shows a lack of understanding of THOSE people who would have been in Rapture. But the 'plot' required the situation shown in the game, so logic was thrown out willfully or out of ignorance. The usual strawmen and scapegoats were marched out by the game writers - simplistic explanations for the Failtopia needed for a mass-murdering Player's experience (Oh, its OK they are pretty much crazy Zombies who strangely aren't given much else to do besides attack the Player on sight - and its all caused by that 'Capitalism' and 'Individualism' evil ...... yup yup yup, DERP!!!!) "Its a Game" (how many times has that been said...), but hints, at least, are pretty easy and cheap Asset-wise to add to a game to fill in its logic better. Really wasn't done, so there must be another reason for the lack of logic/understanding shown of the games proposed setting. --- --- --- Ryan's Rapture Was NOT Anarchy : When you first see Rapture as a Player, it is shown as a wreck. People running around shooting at you, without you having seen what it was like before ADAM and Fontaine created the disaster. What you see has forced Ryan to counter with alot of additional public security "War Measures" as the Civil War's violence and disorder (actually terrorism) descended on the City ... The game's writers never bother to show you the majority of Citizens DEMANDING protective measures, and then having the still-Normal Citizens moving about furtively in the safe areas (The areas the security measures protected). All we got to see (or were told about) was only Crazy Splicers running rampant. There were still "lines that were not supposed to be crossed" in Rapture's society (it is bunk that there "were no laws" ... Ryan just said HE would MAKE no laws but the one he added later that he saw as a serious threat to Raptures safety). In BaS, in the Market/High Street scenes you get to see the more orderly environment which would have prevailed through most of Rapture for more than a decade previous. Law-wise, order had to be maintained, and there would still be arguments and drunks and other sources of disorder to contend with. Handling of miscreants need not require gunfire and local Constables would handle things as cops in most real cities did - and these would be professionals in public places -- members of the Rapture Constabulary, and not just hopped up Mall-cops as some people might mistakenly expect from the little evidence seen and vague details about the city. Ryan is painted the Villain for trying to preserve Order and Safety, which Rapture had been originally created with. Consider then how WW2 America (rationing, restrictions, military everywhere) might be seen by today's Know-Nothings (and history-deprived public school pupils) as a Nazi Police State if presented with little explanation about what happens when there is a War. SERIOUSLY, some people today DO see America then and now like that, and you would get a rather skewed story if you ONLY got to hear what people like THAT have to say. Consider that most of the BS1 story is told to you by someone (Fontaine/Atlas) who is a congenital liar and psychopath, and Sofia Lamb is about the same. Other evidence/explanations is kept limited in the game to preserve some plot Twist the writers don't want to 'spoil' (Or Rather, wrote a clumsy plot to incorporate it). SO what exactly do you KNOW about Rapture then, which you cannot realize without 'Reading Between the Lines', and knowing something about the society/culture which Rapture was shaped-as/is-mimicking (America of the mid 40s) ???? --- --- --- Where Does Objectivism (Said To Be Ryan's and Rapture's Base Philosophy) Stand on Abortion ?? : OMG OMG !!!! He's talking about a forbidden subject !!!!!!!!!. No. Its perfectly valid. It might not be much part of the game, but it is an interesting subject about Rapture's Society to see what might have been there (A realistic Rapture ... "Thought Experiment", yada yada ...) Probably depends how 'the individual' is defined (to have Rights), and judged relative to that (Religious interpretations being now excluded). Note - a Death Penalty is usually avoided under Objectivism (so 'erring on the side of caution' ?). - Now that's a Twisted Idea™ : What affects did ADAM had on human embryo/unborn children (you don't want something inside firing off Plasmids ... etc). In early stages the unborn are almost ALL "Stem Cells". Tentacled things in Rapture AT LAST !!!! ADAM-use supposedly went on for a few years before its (overly-contrived, rather sudden) affects brought Chaos to Rapture, so there would be sufficient time for such pre-natal effects to happen. A major increase in birth defects WOULD be noticed/reported. It is possibly one of those things that needs to be 'explained', rather than shown. MMORPG Rapture would be shown as a more complete society, not only including elements shown to facilitate gunfire and a Players-slaughter-fest Shoot-Em-Up environment (and a forced plot with the player fed lies when they aren't given any contrary evidence). --- --- --- Why Would Ryan Let-In So Many People Who Would Not Match Raptures Philosophy? : He wouldnt, and would have done due diligence to try to keep Parasitically-Oriented people out. The not-letting-people-leave is problematic. Ryan never did really got great advice from anyone - SOMETHING LIKE : A Suggestion to have his research labs try to develop a 'Memory Wipe' Tonic, so that people who wanted to leave could safely be allowed to. That would be best all round to send away people who just could not adapt to Rapture. Allegedly (in the game plot) having so many inappropriate people, people of the Surface World way-of-thinking, meant he didn't (rather Wasn't Allowed - FOR THE PLOT) have done proper vetting of those he allowed to come to Rapture. And how could Ryan have predicted/foreseen the terrible upheaval ADAM would perpetrate on Rapture's citizens ??? Normal social upheavals could be handled by Ryan and his Philosophy, but a (so conveniently contrived) powerful drug with story delayed/hidden side-effects allowing its massive widespread use WHICH turned citizens into insane/crazy Homicidal Maniacs (able to Teleport, dodge bullets, and heave deadly Fire/Electricity/Ice at people) was quite something else. It was NOT a failure of Ryan's Philosophies, as is implied in the games by the writers. Truly, ADAMs effects would as much or even MORE severely test OUR so-called 'more enlightened'/charity-filled society. A number of MMORPG 'history' Quests/Missions can deal with explaining/clarifying (and correcting) WHY certain things in the game 'Canon' really took place. (ie- the plight of the 'poor' Construction Workers was more an excuse and an exageration for propaganda purposes). --- --- --- Ryans Philosophy Objectivism/Individualism Didn't Fail Rapture : Rapture was overwhelmed by Sabotage by a power hungry criminal (something hidden for too unrealistically long in what is a very small city), AND an insanity-causing addiction which could severely damage OUR OWN World the same way (conveniently was left unreacted-to by the Citizens and Rapture's Free Press). The setting of the MMORPG is built around activities to survive/advance, and save other Splicers. You are cleaning up the world you have to live in (doing it for your own good). One less Splicer (turned into one more Citizen) is one step forward to a more stable world, and to regain 'normalcy'. How to have empathy for Splicers to want to save them ?? A Critical Mass is needed for Society to survive. You were once a Splicer, and are now better off in New Rapture. There is plenty more work to be done, and somebody has to clean the toilets. New Rapture seeks to help get Splicers rehabilitated and back on their feet, to become productive members of society, and to turn loose their abilities and productivity to achieve great things. The Player can have the resources to assist the City and new Ex-Splicers (Help them to help themselves, and build for themselves and everybody). --- --- --- Freedom Does Not Eliminate Responsibility : There would have had to be much more complexity in Rapture's Society than was ever presented in-game (BTW, Such WOULD interfere with their story reasoning). Rapture (as presented) generally lacked any significant system of checks and balances, which a viable society so-far lasting 46-59 = 13 years would HAVE had to possess, to even exist. But then, game developers can just make up stuff (fluff) that doesn't have to work outside of the narrow confines of a 'Lead by the nose' shooter game, with plot/setting details that need not be any more substantial than a candy wrapper. Vagaries is all we got in all the background/backstory. But having more solid details would have eliminated many of the contrivances the writers used to drive their 'Twist' plotline. The game's chief mechanism was a limited selection of Audio Diaries, which spouted alot of hate/complaint towards Ryan (from people who had an agenda against him, and with no assurance of saying anything true or unbiased), and there being a general LACK of a broader sampling of what Rapture's majority of Citizens thought. Too late, the Player learns that just about every word out of Atlas's mouth (in the radio communications) was a Lie. Real information about Atlas/Fontaine might have poisoned the Player's following of Atlas's "helpful" instructions so willingly (Like you actually had a choice?). Apparently, it all would have required Greater Cleverness (not necessarily Effort) on the game writers' part to manipulate the Player towards the same 'Twist' Conclusion (( '' Oops being midgame ?? Yeah that's too is very Telling ... '' )). --- --- --- Existentialism - a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. --- --- --- Collectivism Collectivist like Sofia Lamb. The Collectivist is fine with sharing (particularly of OTHER people's things) -- EXCEPT for power, which they gather to themselves (and historically they HAVE when allowed to flourish killed millions of people to get and hold their power). Human life is cheap when 'the good of all' is made paramount. --- --- --- Rapture's Doom : It wasn't Ryan's Philosophy that was the problem, or a few evil people, It was the Game Writers that made sure Rapture failed with their severely illogical story : * Really? That Ryan would just give up and destroy everything (and not even See-to-it doing THAT, properly) ? * Rapture's majority passively did nothing which they SHOULD have ( ... instead the writers had them act against their likely tendencies/own interests ) * Sofia Lamb's collectivist delusion had no answers (and just became a cult and killed people) * 'Hand the ADAM production to Atlas's boys' - McDonagh's rather stupid suggestion (Ryan really got little help ...) The game writers had to Stack the Deck to force the games plot progression (that 'twist'). Its was Ryan and Rapture's ruin done through the negation of logical actions/inclinations for the characters involved. Good thing they killed Ryan halfway through the game, or his inactivity would have become even more absurd (writers Found no other way to assure Raptures Failure than to kill Ryan - to stop the real HIM). --- --- --- Patents and Copyrights in Rapture - How did/does this Work ? : Specifically for things taken from 'the Surface', which now are being manufactured in Rapture, which make use of mechanisms and methods and materials patented in the Surface World. All kinds of things in Rapture wont last forever, and will have to be copied -- which use Patented inventions from the Surface. Some businesses brought to Rapture once paid royalties (on the Surface) and had licensed patents to manufacture their products. Anything manufactured, apart from the simplest most basic products, probably will infringe on some existing Surface patent(s). How is this resolved philosophically (Ryan's) as such unpaid use contradicts Ryan's belief in others "owning the work of the sweat of their brow" ? For ideas invented within Rapture, Patents could be issued (that is, IF there isn't a problem with that moronically naive 'No Law' crap the game writers created). Minimal government also kinda runs against a system to register Patents/Copyright, which is needed to facilitate any enforcement. As per the Surface World's laws, Patent protection covers invention, not discovery. An interesting issue is : How many 'Rapture Creations' were used (sold on the Surface) by Ryan to continue funding Rapture's expansion and its move towards 'self-reliance'. Critical materials not producible in Rapture had to be obtained and stockpiled to last however long the City did - the 'Hundred Years Stockpile' had to be bought and transported and stored in Rapture, even after the 'closing off of Rapture' in 1952. --- --- --- Good Questions : Where does Rapture (with its pseudo-Objectivism) stand on 'Child Labor'? : Later when people are in survival mode, it is somewhat different (isolated farmers out living at a subsistence level). - Another question is : 'Patent' protection (and taking product ideas/details to make things IN Rapture based on Surface owned patents)?? Perhaps just not alot of things were actually manufactured in Rapture ? --- --- --- Checks And Balances - The Writers Failure : "ADAM is an example of a product that needed society's regulation. Its one of the points BioShock was trying to make, but the Writers failed it miserably in their drive to force their game story. The truth was hidden, the public was deaf, dumb and blind, the Free Press was silent -- the mechanism that are employed under Objectivism were blocked/denied/avoided in the game. In a realistic world it would be different. NEVER has an untested drug caused an entire society to fail, even under socialism. It provides an interesting game idea, but not a "Real World" point. This situation has never occurred outside of fiction. Rational self-interest cannot do harm. In this game they foisted IRRATIONAL self interest onto the population. Acting on "whims" to take an untested, visibly toxic drug ... Please explain how that is in anyone's rational (and thus long-term) self interest ? Then WITHOUT the mechanisms Objectivism and Ryan's Philosophy provide Rapture suddenly becomes a Dystopia (writer Failtopia). BioShock does make an interesting point, that "regulation" of ADAM was an utmost necessity for Ryan (if noone else) to save Rapture. But as Ayn Rand propounds, it is not Market Regulation, but the regulation of Citizen Activity to instigate legal proceedings with direct liability to anyone who willfully practices Product Fraud in their society. - A Regulation Example : Prohibition was an attempt to regulate Alcohol consumption (attempting to eliminating its casual use) in the United States. It failed. It caused more problems than it solved, giving power to criminals who didn't follow laws and exploited a substances traditional common use, as well as the flaunting the laws by common people. It CREATED major corruption in the government. (( NOTE - The issue was so widely realized that someone (a magazine) held a Contest to come up with a label for it. "Scofflaw" was the term created - Two different people submitted that same term independently )). --- --- --- DO YOU Think That Ryan's Philosophy Was Strange ? : Its was similar to what many of people in the US used to think (and many still do) was better than the detrimental Socialism which has been imposed upon them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Some of the things Ryan complained about : Particularly ----> Look see its One third government taxes. 'Gasoline' (product source) + RR transport (understandable, though potential monopolization). 'Agent' (business middleman). The 'Me' part still isn't profit, but also goes to pay the rest of the operator's overhead (including employees who have to also pay taxes). (AND that doesn't include any income tax the proprietor himself might have to pay on his income) Amazing is that in early 1970s America you could still buy gasoline for 25 cents a gallon (AND with a significant inflation of the Dollar from the 20s/40s). --- --- --- Ownership is an Obligation/Responsibility - Exchange Contract/Debt : ... A Common understanding in the society of Rapture. SO you (the MMORPG Player) if you request a 'Residence' TO RENT then you have to 'keep it up', or it will be Defaulted to someone else who will make better use of it. The City as a group has provided and maintained this space, and you have the obligation to actually use it. You can still 'squat' in some outer area, but without many advantages/conveniences within 'city limits'. Rent is due in the form of : Monthly payments. Labor to the 'city' can be supplied in lieu of Cash (as it was done in many places of crude/limited economy). There is a condition of safely maintaining your own property, as well as shared infrastructure. Fortunately, such mundane maintenance tasks can be taken care of by Team NPCs (which you probably will have accumulated at least one of by the time you get the resources to have a 'Residence' (the NPCs do this in return for room and board and possibly salary). Also Don't Forget to Pay your Power/Utility bill ... Non-payment leads to disconnection. Power 'is not a Right, its a Privilege' ... The New Rapture Sanitation Committee early-on created an ordinance prohibiting raw sewage flowing out the doors from occupied 'Residences' (or being dumped outside). Safety measures are to be enforced. --- --- --- Strawman Against Individualism (Objectivist-like) Philosophy ''' : The game's philosophical reasoning is so shallow. But then "ITS JUST A SHOOTER GAME" (though the game's writers' pretensions claimed otherwise). If you are looking for perfection in any society, then you are deluding yourself. Requiring perfection of other's beliefs but not your own is ignorant/dishonest/hypocritical. What was shown to be in NORMAL Rapture wasn't really that extreme a society - not that far from an earlier America (pre-FDR, when there was far less socialism poisoning/constraining the country and interfering in people's lives). Ryan understood things cannot be perfect, and made allowances for it in Rapture, (ref and he understood there would be adjustments required in time). (( '' Ryan's Detractors, some being the authors of the BioShock games, who contrived a situation to denigrate Ryan's Philosophy, are not as smart as this. For many with a collectivist philosophy, introspection isn't in their practice, evidenced so much these days. '' )) Claiming Ryan's Individualism failed because he exploited people with ADAM-poisoned minds which then brought societal destruction IS invalid reasoning. The writers largely blocked/disallowed the normal societal responses of the people who inhabited Rapture to such a problem. THEY (the majority in Rapture) WOULD have taken action first/early to avoid ADAM because of its terrible side-effects. The game writers did not allow ADAM's bad side effects to be made obvious to the whole population early on, when it certainly would have been highlighted by the Press (and blown their plot apart). Most likely the citizenry would have rejected it in huge numbers (BUT for that forced Dystopic plot, that could not be allowed). Likewise, those same people would later help defend Rapture under Ryan's leadership and organization, against what in OUR World is called "Terrorism". No handwringing and indecisiveness in that earlier American society, the People would do it themselves. Instead the story was written having significant reaction being left all upto Ryan, and THEN illogically blamed HIM for taking strong action, and even interfering in Free Will. The Players have to understand with only the evidence supplied. Evidence which is rather one-sided and missing likely commentary/opinion from the MANY NORMAL people, who were supposed to populate Rapture (The capable, the go-getters, The Greatest Generation type people --- and NOT the Occupy Wall Street type of whiners and do-nothings so common in our current world, whom the gamewriter's story has people in Rapture morph into). The portrayed "big revolt" of 'the poor' still would have been only a minority of citizens, with the majority wanting to protect themselves (and theirs) from violent overthrow, and even with Ryan's detractors themselves fearing to go where Atlas was leading his mobs (who were what amounted to crazed drug addicts). The majority in Rapture would have helped Ryan STEP on Atlas and his Anarchists the same way they would kill a poisonous bug or a rabid dog. ALSO - IF the ADAM craziness was as prevalent/pervasive/overwhelming as the game implies (we only have Fontaine's lying word for it), then it wouldn't matter WHAT Ryan did or didn't do, and Rapture would fall because of ADAM's effects alone. Ryan would try to SAVE Rapture, when Fontaine/Atlas was trying to destroy it. - Funny would be : That this all was a 'Morality Play' about "How the Drug Culture is Destroying Civilization" (No. I don't think that was intended, do you ?? Bang Bang Bang, Zap ...) --- --- --- '''Pheromeone Control - Ryan Allegedly Destroying "Free Will" ?? : Flawed Assumption (more writer slop to smear Ryan and his Philosophy). Society needs the ability to suppress those who do not follow Societies Conventions. Allowance of "Free Will" does NOT extend to allowing criminals performing ANY detrimental activity they wish. BTW, What 'Free Will' does a ADAM-Addled Splicer truly have ????? If you are a Splicer do you actually have 'Free Will' any more ??? (slave to your addiction, and 'driven to' insanity 'to boot') Or by being a murderous destructive terrorist, do YOU TAKE AWAY other Citizens 'Free Will' by killing/maiming them or destroying the City ??? If you're not a Splicer then you're NOT susceptible to this 'Pheromone Control' (supposedly distributed THROUGH ADAM Plasmid sales in the vending machines) - are you ???? "Pheromones" (Please do an internet search on this subject - the writers apparently did not) DO NOT turn people into Robots - they are biochemicals which affect general behavioral attitudes and inclinations - are NOT direct control of peoples minds via auto-suggestion. SO Thus did Ryan actually use the Pheromone Control to nullify/pacify Atlas's Splicers, so that his own forces could get the upper hand to restore order (stop them from disrupting everything which threatened EVERYONE's survival in Rapture itself - food/water/air). Atlas would find himself no longer with an army (other than those who never 'spliced'). Again, it is all very Vague storytelling and not clear WHAT this 'Pheromone Control' actually did (other than STOP the terrorists from totally destroying Rapture - as evidence by US being in it and SEEING it not yet totally destroyed). --- --- --- PSYCHOLOGY Psycho Analyzed This Sucka !!! (The Signs are There ?) ''' : Was BioShock 1's plot some projection of Levine's own Dreamz -- Striking out at 'The Man', to put an end to an allegedly corrupt/unfair world run by rules he doesn't accept, and with a rosy happy ending of 'going home', or heading out to do the same damage to evil elsewhere OR just wiping it all away magically ???? - (Nice simplistic endings which ignore what reality does with such delusions) ? He (in a game) tears down a Capitalist system which in the Real World has paid his life's way - He himself IS 'the man', and so in 'twisted' thrashing hatred he is really cutting his own throat ? ( ''Creepy Deathwish !!! '' ) Are his cheap shots at Objectivism actually just some self-hatred ? (The freedom that he has profited so much from ... benefiting himself ... is so terrible ?) Sophia Lamb's mass murders are downplayed in her delusional acts, where SHE assumes that SHE will MAKE everyone 'better' (that so common collectivist delusional idea that 'one knows best' for others ...). Jack is a mass-murderer (BTW, how many others survived that plane hijacking ? ... SO he killed all of them just for starters.) Does that say something about the "hero" that Levine make you use ??? Hey look, this Booker character is yet another nasty piece of work ... Booker never is even allowed 'redemption' -- He is simply removed from Existence (or NEVER IS -- when you actually use the game's 'sciency' premise of that Multiverse), and Elizabeth can 'feel good' about a delusion, while actually achieving nothing. Infinite BS is a hitjob strawmanhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straw%20man against religion (amongst other things), plain and simple. (Hint - "Baptism" causes "Evil" in this self-limited storyline.) With infinite universes, SO DOES "chewing gum" and "humming a tune" (everything and anything actually in all that Infiniteness), but those things weren't chosen to illustrate this story. I won't even start talking about the idea of someone killing their own Father (which YOU are made to act out in this creepy story). Or themselves. As Freud would say - "Sick Puppy" ... --- --- --- '''Morality in the MMORPG ??? : Ken Levine and company PR releases talked endlessly about "Moral Choices" and responsibility in BioShock, but in the end there was very little choice or real decisions (supposedly ones like 'Harvesting' versus 'Rescuing'/'Saving' Little Sisters). The results of making those 'decisions' were about the same outcome in the game either way. Meanwhile to progress in the game, you had to slaughter countless humans merely for the reason they were in the way of you completing goals which the game was forcing you to pursue. If it came to getting more Buffs/Stuff, versus doing the "Right Thing", which path do YOU think MOST Players would go ??? What if the game Coerced players to murder children ? Looks bad, very bad. We cant have that. At the very end of BS1, you finally find out the outcome of your 'choice' without you really knowing the criteria required to decide it --- it turned out it was some simple in-game math equation - a Little-Sister-Slaughter threshold (Interesting - You apparently got 'one' murdering/disembowelment of a child as a 'freebie' - not to be counted against you), kill X-many of some Bosses, but some other 'Bosses' didn't quite matter if you slaughtered them, etc... (it WAS kinda arbitrary). While throughout the game, you violently slaughter/burn/blowup countless 'Splicers' and Big Daddies (who really are just minding their own business), but there is no counting THAT mass-murder for calculating the Ending (Oh, some attacked you on sight, but what about the ones YOU initiated the attack upon - did THOSE count against you in the mathematics of death ? Nope.) SO what is to be different in the MMORPG ? A goal of saving people (turns out that Splicers are 'people', which ain't too hard to understand, the plot says YOU yourself were one of them until recently). Visible displeasure from your Peers in New Rapture (Loss of Prestige) for killing (even 'accidentally') potential Ex-Splicers/Citizens, and for wasting resources the City will need. You still may have to use force (to incapacitate) upon the Un-Cured, if they don't want to go willingly. It could be more interesting (skill-wise/challenge), IF you have to figure out how to 'get them' without inflicting too much damage. --- --- --- Self Responsibility - Free Drug Use In Rapture : Other 'Recreational' Drugs in Rapture (besides Booze) : * Hashish (concentrated marijuana components) maybe .. (Reefer has been the 'JAZZists' drug of choice ... Imported it is most compact) * Opium (imported) ... Suchong's Fave * Cocaine (imported) * LSD was discovered/synthesized 1938-1943 * Pineal Gland extract (human) * Adrenochrome (Is that what the first thing Lil Sis' slurp down like candy when they are seen sticking their 'Gathering Tool' into a freshly dead Splicer's head ?? -- or better 'not-quite-dead' : "DADDY!!! HOLD THIS STUPID ANGEL DOWN SO I CAN GET ITS TASTY CANDY FILLING ...") Of course many such drugs can take ALOT of research to successfully produce (grow locally or synthesize), and may still then be very expensive if there's not a big enough market to mass-produce). Drugs like synthetic opiates, particularly when they are regulated (not in Rapture), or made as medical-grade (still would apply). Anything transported and smuggled into Rapture would have a great overhead expenses added (at least drugs would be a high value per pound, versus trying to smuggle anything but Luxury Goods like meat/booze/tobacco/etc ... (How the smugglers obtain them up there (on The Surface) is a separate issue - for illegal drugs and shady operators). Drug Fiends in Rapture? When they start killing/robbing people to get their 'fix', it BECOMES something Ryan want controlled. --- --- --- "One man Chose a City, Free of Law and God. " - Sofia Lamb (Who humanity-wise has her head where sun don't shine) Except that Ryan's Rapture could NOT be 'Free of Law' (only imbecilic writers might propose such a thing). You cannot have a modern society (which in Rapture DID last 1946-1958 without significant failure) without some Laws. It was more "Free from Government" - The 'too much government' which Ryan saw as a channel for parasites to gain power over others. There still would be the 'Social Contract', with agreed upon limitations of individual actions (as in - 'Your Freedom ends where it starts interfering with someone else's Freedoms'). The writers are ignorant (willfully ??) or avoiding of the parts of Objectivism which makes for a working system. Again, a Failtopia for a Shoot-em-up game -- Literature-wise, the backstory would be rejected by even desperate pulp fiction publishers as unrealistic and stilted. Oh, "Its only a Game" -- Yes, and since it supposedly got acclaim for superior detail/story, then it highlights the overall low-standards for that element in the products of the Computer Game Industry. --- --- --- Patent Infringement - Is Taking Ideas From the Surface Considered Stealing "Work Of the Sweat of Someones Brow"? : What would Ryan's Philosophy make of that ? Ryan still had some holdings on The Surface. Did he just 'buy' alot of those ideas to bring them to Rapture (or handle it for Rapture businesses wanting/needing the info) ? Many Scientific and industrial technical journals were available just with a subscription. (Of course Ryan had access to everything his Surface industrial empire had). He could get ahold of working versions of things as well (Remember the fantasy hokem that Fink just made things with a glimpse through a Tear ...). Paying Royalties would be a separate issue for 'licensed technologies'. (exactly how would THAT work?) He may have believed there was a 'grey area' in that "ideas are a dime a dozen" and the hard part is making them work, which NEEDED to be achieved in Rapture to use any of that knowledge to produce products/services in a sustained way. Specialized tools and materials might be needed (AND the ways to make them), but many could be outright purchased and sent to Rapture, even long past the 1952 isolation. Things do eventually wear out, so either a sufficient stockpile would have to be accumulated (tools, materials) OR the ability to produce them locally needed to be assured for Rapture's Future. Some things might be 'done without', or alternatives found by Rapturites. But many materials just canmot be found/made in the ocean and if they were Critical would have to be accumulated from the only source - The Surface. Rapture might try to be 'self-sufficient' and maintain a modern technological world for its Citizens, but that probably was not achieved so quickly and some things would still have to be done contrary to that directive. Even needs in the growing City - oversights which would have to be handled, which couldnt wait for local production (at least easier during the city building phase before the 'cut off' in 1952). Even post 1952 - likely certain critically needed things were "officially" obtained. And if 'Ryan' could do that, why not others who had a real 'need', and not just for for-profit Luxuries... Would that be considered 'Smuggling'? - perhaps again a grey area for what is defined as 'Contraband', and how that situation changed over time (another MMORPG historic story). Official channels may have existed for obtaining such things, if need could be proven, but all done officially - with sufficient safeguards to protect Rapture's secrecy. --- --- --- --- --- . .